Friday, February 6, 2009

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TODAY'S THEME

III Nephi 6 And now there cannot be written in this book even a hundredth part of the things which Jesus did truly teach unto the people;

7 But behold the plates of Nephi do contain the more part of the things which he taught the people.

8 And these things have I written, which are a lesser part of the things which he taught the people; and I have written them to the intent that they may be brought again unto this people,(the posterity of Father Lehi of our day, and through Lehi, of Joseph Who Was Sold Into Egypt) from the Gentiles (us), according to the words which Jesus hath spoken.

9 And when they shall have received this, which is expedient that they should have first, to try their faith, and if it shall so be that they shall believe these things then shall the greater things be made manifest unto them.

10 And if it so be that they will not believe these things, then shall the greater things be withheld from them, unto their condemnation.

11 Behold, I was about to write them, all which were engraven upon the plates of Nephi, but the Lord forbade it, saying: I will try the faith of my people.

12 Therefore I, Mormon, do write the things which have been commanded me of the Lord. And now I, Mormon, make an end of my sayings, and proceed to write the things which have been commanded me. (clarification and emphasis added)

Jesus Christ Teacing the Nephites -by John Scott

We have already learned from what we have read in the Book of III Nephi, that Jesus Christ was able to have the Nephites experience with Him, things that His people in Palestine were not ready to experience with Him, and have faith which was beyond that of those in the land of His birth.

Now we read that only about a one hundredth part of what He taught them (The Nephites) was recorded by Mormon and that when he wanted to write more than what he was told to write, because they had been recorded by Nephi, one of the Savior's 12 Nephite disciples on the plates that had been passed on for generation after generation, and were available to him, the Lord told him, Mormon, that He, Jesus Christ, forbade it, saying: "I will try the faith of my people."

Who are His people whose faith was to be tried? Look in a mirror! It is those of us who have been baptized members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or will eventually become members of His Latter-day Church, partly because of their testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.

Now check out again these words of Mormon from TODAY'S THOUGHT:

9 And when they shall have received this, which is expedient that they should have first, to try their faith, and if it shall so be that they shall believe these things then shall the greater things be made manifest unto them.

10 And if it so be that they will not believe these things, then shall the greater things be withheld from them, unto their condemnation.

Inasmuch as the Book of Mormon was first printed in 1830 and the Lord has not yet given us the rest of that which the Lord taught those Nephites during the days He spent with them, we must realize: We aren't paying sufficient attention to what Mormon wrote about our Savior's teachings to the Nephites during His visit with them regarding how we live our lives. Neither are we sufficiently following that kind of counsel given in the rest of the Book of Mormon.
It is taking time for His people to be ready. Please read these words of our Savior which He revealed to Joseph Smith way back in 1832,

Doctrine and Covenants 84: 51 For whoso cometh not unto me is under the bondage of sin.

52 And whoso receiveth not my voice is not acquainted with my voice, and is not of me.

53 And by this you may know the righteous from the wicked, and that the whole world groaneth under sin and darkness even now.

54 And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received—

55 Which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation.

56 And this condemnation resteth upon the children of Zion, even all.

57 And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon and the former commandments which I have given them, not only to say, but to do according to that which I have written—

58 That they may bring forth fruit meet for their Father's kingdom; otherwise there remaineth a scourge and judgment to be poured out upon the children of Zion.

59 For shall the children of the kingdom pollute my holy land? Verily, I say unto you, Nay.

60 Verily, verily, I say unto you who now hear my words, which are my voice, blessed are ye inasmuch as you receive these things;

61 For I will forgive you of your sins with this commandment—that you remain steadfast in your minds in solemnity and the spirit of prayer, in bearing testimony to all the world of those things which are communicated unto you.(emphasis added)

Do I hear some of you who are not yet members of this church saying. Those LDS people had better shape up? Perhaps you, after you have been baptized and have become faithful members of the church, could help the rest of us shape up!

During the year 2007, our prophet then, Gordon B. Hinckley challenged the entire Church membership to read the Book of Mormon all the way through that year. By all reports, many did as he instructed. I am sure that the implication was there in the words of President Hinckley, who has since passed away, that we should improve in living our lives in accordance to the teachings found in that sacred book as well as just reading it.

Even the membership of our Murray Third Ward of the Murray Utah Stake, including the children who can read, where my wife, Melva and I are members, were urged by our Bishopric to read the Book of Mormon during 2008. After reading each one of the sub-books, we taped a green paper leaf with our names and the name of the sub-book written on it that we had just read, onto a picture of a tree, posted on our ward bulletin board, for all to see. It is still there and that tree has very many leafs on it.

Well, the things that were recorded on the plates of Nephi by the Prophet-disciple, Nephi, during our Savior's visit with them, haven't yet been revealed. Whose fault is that? Certainly not President Hinckley's, and certainly not President Thomas S. Monson's fault (who was called by the Lord to replace President Hinckley when he died), and other church leaders like our bishop, and surely many other bishops world-wide who continue to urge members to study the Book of Mormon and live by its teachings.

It is my fault and also the fault of you other members of this church and even perhaps, you who are not yet members of this church, who have begun to see the truthfulness of this very sacred book, The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ.

Please read the scripture below that you might read again the Thought For Today along with the rest of this very important scripture. (Once again I suggest that you scroll up after the scripture is on your screen and click on the word, Listen which is on the upper left hand side, so you may read and listen at the same time.)

Where in the New Testament is recorded anything like this which is found in the scripture you have just read (with all due respect to that great scripture, The New Testament, which is so important to each of us):

III Nephi 26: 16 Behold, it came to pass on the morrow that the multitude gathered themselves together, and they both saw and heard these children; yea, even babes did open their mouths and utter marvelous things; and the things which they did utter were forbidden that there should not any man write them.

17 And it came to pass that the disciples whom Jesus had chosen began from that time forth to baptize and to teach as many as did come unto them; and as many as were baptized in the name of Jesus were filled with the Holy Ghost.

18 And many of them saw and heard unspeakable things, which are not lawful to be written.

19 And they taught, and did minister one to another; and they had all things common among them, every man dealing justly, one with another. (emphasis added)

I hope you noticed above that significant information about the high level of spiritual and temporal life these Nephites had begun to live (and continued to live for about 200 more years.)

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About Me

I was born Feb. 13, 1932 in Sacramento, CA. I grew up in Roseville, CA. While employed by the LDS Church my family and I lived in Utah, New Mexico, Montana, California, and Missouri. I retired from LDS Family Services in 1996. I owned my own adoption service business for 8 years thereafter. Then my wife, Melva and I served in Finland 2004 - 2006 as missionaries. I also served as a young missionary in Finland from 1952 - 1955. I have nine children (5 daughters, four sons), two step-children, (step-sons) and 27 grandchildren.

From One Mormon's Point of View

So much is being said nowadays on the Internet by people not of the Mormon faith, about the Mormons and their beliefs. Why not learn about us Mormons from one of us. I'm not an official of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, just one of the regular members, yet I'm one who supports Mormon beliefs because I have a testimony and have had much experience that has shown me the truth. I welcome your questions and even criticisms that you have heard, about which you would like the truth. If that is the case, you've come to the right guy.